


And We Always Will

by doctornineandthreequarters



Series: 9-1-1 Prompts and Drabbles [49]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Firehouse 118 Crew as Family (9-1-1 TV), First Kiss, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, M/M, Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Worried Firehouse 118 Crew (9-1-1 TV), no beta we die like the 145 other people who died in Bobby’s apartment building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 23:14:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30079803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctornineandthreequarters/pseuds/doctornineandthreequarters
Summary: “You guys didn’t have to…”“Of course we did, kid,” Bobby said, walking over and pulling Buck into a hug. “And we always will.”---Or, when Buck gets hurt one night after a shift, the whole team comes running.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Athena Grant, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: 9-1-1 Prompts and Drabbles [49]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878523
Comments: 24
Kudos: 473





	And We Always Will

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Buck is just getting home, dead tired after a long shift. He's in the parking garage when he's tackled from behind. His attacker tries to choke the life out of him and manages a good squeeze of Buck's throat before Buck punches his lights out. Thinking fast, Buck ties up the psycho and then calls Athena. He expects her to show up alone, but his entire family comes running, all of them horrified by the sight of Buck's bruised neck. Eddie insists on taking Buck home with him.

Buck sighed as he parked his car. He was exhausted. He had just finished a twenty-four hour shift after covering someone’s twelve hour shift. And of course, both shifts had been busy, so Buck had slept maybe thirty minutes over those thirty-six hours. So, all he wanted was to curl up in his bed and sleep for at least twelve hours. He’d sleep more, but he had plans to go to the aquarium with Eddie and Christopher tomorrow. So, he couldn’t sleep his whole day-off away, but he could sleep the night away, which he planned to do. 

As much as the loneliness of going home to his mostly empty apartment (since Albert lived with him but he was always out doing something) sucked, Buck was grateful for it in this moment. Because no one would need something from him or judge him for going to sleep at 9 PM. So while the loneliness sucked most of the time, this was the one time when it didn’t suck.

He got out of his car, thinking only about grabbing his bag and going right up to his apartment. But instead, he found himself being spun around and shoved roughly back into his car. 

“Give me your keys and wallet and you won’t get hurt.” There was someone with a mask on in front of him, snarling as their chest heaved. When Buck didn’t respond or move, they let out an angry shout before lunging for Buck. Buck let out a yelp as their hands went around his neck, squeezing as hard as they could. Buck blamed his exhaustion for freezing up temporarily. 

But then, his brain shifted into fight or flight mode and he sprung into action.

He quickly brought his knee up, connecting with the attacker’s stomach. They released Buck and Buck swung his fist, knocking them back. He landed two more hits, dazing the attacker so much that they knelt to the ground, groaning. Buck turned quickly, opening his trunk. He spotted a jump rope from a workout he had done with Chimney and Albert at the park and grabbed it. He grabbed the attacker and quickly wrapped them up. 

“You really picked the wrong person to jump,” Buck said before realizing how much it hurt to talk. The attacker just groaned, leaning back against Buck’s jeep, too tied up and too tired to move. Buck sighed, rubbing his throat, before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

It didn’t seem like he was going to sleep any time soon.

* * *

Athena let her wrist rest on top of the steering wheel as she watched the red light. She was working opposite shifts from Bobby, which wasn’t ideal, but had to happen every so often. And of course, they both had the next day off, so it would all be fine. 

She glanced over at her phone, hearing it ring. She glanced at the light, seeing it was still red before turning back to her phone. When she saw it was Buck, she raised an eyebrow, before answering the call. 

“Hey Buckaroo,” Athena said as the light changed. She started to drive, hoping that Buck just had an odd question and wasn’t in some kind of trouble. “Everything alright?”

_ “Not really,”  _ Athena fought back a sigh because of course something was wrong.  _ “You’re on duty right? Do you think you can come to my apartment building? Specifically the parking garage at my apartment building?” _

“You wanna tell me what’s going on?”

_ “I’ll explain when you get here.” _ The call ended and Athena sighed. Somehow, trouble always found Buck and it was both frustrating and concerning. She started driving towards Buck’s place, hoping that Buck was somewhat okay (which she assumed he was since he was able to call her). When she reached another red-light, she pulled up her texts to Bobby and sent him a quick message. The text was concise, but got her point across clearly. 

_ Our Buckaroo’s in trouble. _

* * *

Buck sighed as he leaned against the car. The attacker was still on the ground, wrapped up in the jump rope. They had struggled for a few moments before giving up, realizing how tightly they were tied up. 

When he saw Athena’s squad car pull into the garage, he sighed again before pushing off the car.

“Want to tell me what this is about?” Athena asked as she approached Buck. She sucked in a breath when she was close enough to Buck to see his neck. He knew it looked bad, he had looked at it with his phone’s camera. There were clear marks on his neck from where the attacker had wrapped their fingers. “This fool in the jump rope do that?” She nodded to the attacker who simply huffed before leaning their head back against the car.

“Yeah,” Buck said before coughing again.

“Alright, hang tight,” Athena said, gently patting his arm. “I’m going to call another officer down here to take them away. Then I’ll get your statement.” Buck just nodded as she walked back to her car. He cleared his throat again, trying not to touch the marks on his throat. He just wanted this nightmare to be over so he could go to bed.

* * *

Buck fidgeted with the mug in front of him. After the other police officer had shown up and carted the attacker off, Athena had walked Buck up to his apartment to take his statement. Well, she had started to and then had insisted on making him some tea and checking on the bruises on his neck. She had been texting a lot as well, and Buck had to wonder if she was texting Bobby or Hen about the bruises and what to do.

If Buck was being honest, he just wanted to sleep. He knew Athena was concerned and he appreciated her concern. But he was exhausted and he just wanted this nightmare to be over. He was actually mulling over how to tell her that, when he heard a knock at his door. 

“I’ll get it,” Athena said, gently patting Buck’s shoulder before going to the door. Buck just stared down at the mug. He could hear Athena talking to someone, but Buck had a feeling it was just Bobby. After all, there was no way Athena hadn’t told him what had happened.

“Evan.” He looked up, surprised to hear his sister’s voice. He was even more surprised to see how many people were standing in his apartment. Maddie was standing next to Chimney, a terrified look on her face. Bobby was standing with Athena, studying the marks on Buck’s neck. Eddie was standing by the door, looking like he was ready to fight someone, his fists clenched and an angry look on their face. And Buck could only look shocked that they were all there, that they had all shown up for him.

Maddie rushed over to him, pulling him into a hug. Even though she was a foot shorter, Buck melted into the hug, always grateful for the comfort from his older sister. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Maddie said, pulling away from him. “When Bobby texted Howie…”

“Bobby texted you?” Buck asked, wincing a little at how sore his throat still was. 

“He texted all of us,” Chimney said, walking over to Buck. “Hen would’ve come too, but Denny still has that really bad stomach bug. She does want a full report that you’re okay, which I plan to text her.”

“You guys didn’t have to…”

“Of course we did, kid,” Bobby said, walking over and pulling Buck into a hug. “And we always will.” Buck just nodded, looking at everyone there. As much as he had been grateful earlier for the ability to go home to an empty apartment, he did hate it. So he was glad that everyone had come running, that everyone had shown up for him.

He was glad that his family had shown up for him. 

* * *

After some time, everyone had started to filter out. Chimney had FaceTimed Hen, so she could see for herself that Buck was okay. She, like everyone else, had grimaced at the bruises at his neck before going over with Chimney what Buck should do to treat it. Then, Chimney and Maddie had left, his sister hugging him tightly and saying she’d call him in the morning. After they left, Bobby left, patting Buck on the shoulder and telling him to get some rest. Athena had then finished getting his statement before leaving, since she was still working. 

That just left Eddie. 

Eddie hadn’t said anything since he had shown up. He had just stared at Buck’s neck, a variety of emotions flitting across his face. Buck didn’t know what was going through Eddie’s head, but then lately, he felt like he didn’t know what Eddie was thinking at all. 

Buck liked to think he knew Eddie pretty well. They spent enough time together that it felt like sometimes he could read the brunette’s mind and vice versa. And lately, it felt like that close connection was moving towards something else. They had both tried dating, but hadn’t been successful, choosing to bemoan their lack of success to each other. And Buck had started feeling like maybe he didn’t need to search for a partner when he spent so much time with Eddie. But he didn’t know if Eddie felt the same way or if he was just imagining all of this. 

He went to say something, to at least figure out why Eddie was being so quiet, when the brunette shook his head, moving closer to Buck. 

“You, uh, shouldn’t talk,” Eddie said, sniffing a little. “It won’t help your throat.” Buck just nodded, watching Eddie. “I know I’ve been really quiet, but everyone else was fussing over you and I was working out how I was feeling about all of this. Which, since Bobby texted me, has been ranging from wanting to hit something and wanting to make sure you’re okay.”

“And…”

“Which side won out?” Eddie asked, moving closer to Buck. Buck just nodded, his heart beating a little faster as Eddie moved closer until he was barely inches from where Buck was sitting. His hand came up to cradle Buck’s face, his thumb gently sweeping over Buck’s cheek, before tilting his face up. “I still want to pummel the asshole who did this, but I’d rather make sure you’re okay.” He looked down at Buck, a softness crossing his gaze. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Buck said, his voice barely above a whisper, both because of his throat and because of the way Eddie was staring at him. “I’m so tired I haven’t even...processed what happened.”

“That’s okay,” Eddie said, his thumb moving back to Buck’s cheek. Buck felt his cheeks turn pink as Eddie’s thumb marked a gentle path from his cheek to his jaw. “I’ll be here when you do.”

“You will?” Buck asked, feeling Eddie gravitate closer to him. Eddie just nodded, his tongue subtly swiping across his lips. Buck just closed the distance between the two of them, kissing Eddie. The kiss was soft and slow, Buck too afraid that he was imagining this and Eddie clearly not pushing it, worried he might hurt Buck. And yet, the kiss was perfect. It was everything he had hoped for and more. 

When they both pulled away, Eddie just smiled, that soft look still in his eyes.

“As much as I’d like to keep that up,” Eddie said, earning a smile from Buck. “You look exhausted and deserve to rest.” Buck just nodded, glancing towards his lofted bedroom. “But not here.” Buck glanced back at Eddie, tilting his head. “I told you I’d be there when you processed it all. But by here, I meant my house.” 

“Okay,” Buck said, standing up from where he had been sitting. There was no reason to put up a fight. He didn't want to be alone, if he was being honest. And since Eddie was offering, there was no way he was going to turn that down. Eddie just smiled, letting his fingers interlace with Buck’s. 

“Come on,” Eddie said, gently tugging on Buck’s hand. And Buck just followed, grateful to not be alone.


End file.
